Water Garden, Warren House
Photo: AndyScott / CC BY-SA 4.0, modified.
Overview
The Water Garden at Warren House is a historic Japanese-style water garden in Coombe Wood, Kingston upon Thames, London. It was originally connected with the Warren House / Coombe Wood landscape and is now associated with The Watergardens residential development. The garden is notable for its sequence of lakes, streams, bridges, Japanese-style garden structures and mature trees and shrubs.
History
The Japanese Water Garden was laid out in 1863 by James Veitch, the noted horticulturist, as part of Coombe Wood Nursery to the north of Warren House. It was designed with a series of lakes linked by a stream fed by one of Coombe’s underground springs. Later, the garden became separated from Warren House through sale and redevelopment, and the Watergardens residential development took its name from the surviving Japanese-style garden.
Design features
The garden includes linked lakes, streams, Japanese-style bridges, sculpture, summerhouses and mature rare trees and shrubs. Its layout is based on water movement through the site, with paths, bridges and planting creating a picturesque Japanese-inspired landscape. Later descriptions also connect the garden with the Willow Pattern tradition and describe a maze of paths crossing streams and ponds and moving through exotic trees and shrubs.
Garden elements
Bridges
Buildings
Waters and islands
Stones
Other elements
Current status
The garden survives but is no longer part of a fully public historic estate garden. It is maintained within The Watergardens residential development and is accessible only on selected visitor days, including occasional openings in aid of the National Garden Scheme. Warren House Hotel also currently promotes arranged Water Garden visits or tickets, but access remains limited rather than freely public. (2026)